Into SC

The last blog entry found us in Wrightsville Beach NC at ICW mile marker 283. Now we are at MM 430 in McClellanville SC. What did we encounter in the 150 (statute) miles from there to here?

As you can see above, our departure Thursday morning from Wrightsville Beach was eventful. The day's planned run to Southport NC (MM 309) was short enough to allow time for a hot breakfast aboard Spray and another romp on the beach, this time with tennis ball and frisbee. We then pulled anchor and were wending our way to the ICW channel when that USCG boat lined up beside us to board for a (non-voluntary) safety inspection.

I stayed on the flying bridge and kept Spray on course at 5 knots while 3 of the coasties leapt aboard. Sheila went below to get paperwork (Fed. documentation and rules/regs book) and answer questions. They peeked down in the engine room, verified that we had proper PFD'S, fire extinguishers, and holding tank setup. We passed the inspection with flying colors. The process took maybe 20 minutes and was actually fun.

It was an easy trip to Southport, including a wide portion of the Cape Fear River. We pulled into a vacant (free) slip, walked around the nice downtown area, and had dinner at Yacht Basin Eatery, who had given us the OK to use the slip. On our walk we encountered our 2nd labyrinth of our journey.

Friday we left early for a longer run to Barefoot Marina (MM 354) in North Myrtle Beach SC, crossing the NC/SC border. We walked from the marina, over a bridge, and explored the large Barefoot Landing shopping complex, which is aimed at tourists and so was pretty dead this time of year. Sheila did buy a new pair of reading glasses and took some pictures of critters in the lake the project surrounds.

On Saturday we had another longish run to Georgetown SC (MM 404). In this section the ICW turns inland some through cypress swamps. It was pretty, backwoods country but there was much floating debris, mostly water hyacinths. We had a small break when we pulled into Osprey Marina to buy 100 gallons diesel ($3.45) and continued on our uphill run (we had opposing current almost all day) to Georgetown. It took us 8 hours to make this 45 nm trip, but it was worth it. We dropped the hook in their crowded harbor, about 100 ft. from a town dock, and went exploring.

Sheila says she could actually imagine living in Georgetown. It has real industry - a paper mill and a steel mill, lots of beautiful homes, and a vibrant downtown. They lost a block of waterfront businesses (7 stores) a couple of months ago to a fire, but most of the businesses were already up and running at new locations, including the nice bar/restaurant we had dinner at. The fast recovery is a heartwarming story of community.

Yesterday was windy and cold, and it was a bouncy hour of traveling down wide Winyah Bay until we turned into a narrow cut and continued through the SC 'low country' to McClellanville. Lots of beautiful grassy marshland to see with many shore birds, hawks, and dolphins. This town is gorgeous with huge live oaks draped in spanish moss, although there are very few businesses. We're glad to be tied up at Leland Oil Co. dock with shore power connected as we awoke to 30 degrees this morning and have an electric heater cranking away.

We're now waiting for the sun and tide to rise a bit before heading to Charleston, which is a 33 nm run. We see reports of shoaling at a few inlets so we want to hit those (poor choice of words) during a rising tide. This afternoon we will pull into the Charleston Maritime Center where we will stay a whole week!

 

 

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